"BRITAIN FIRST."

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 83, 8 April 1940, Page 6

"BRITAIN FIRST."

CRACK BLENHEIMS. SPEEDY BOMBKK FIGHTER. LONDON". March .">. Aircraft manufacturers are beinu' given orders for thousands, of Blenheim-— the crack bomber-fighter which laid one of the foundations for the expanded Roval Air Force with which Britain entered the war. The Blenheim medium bomlier was evolved from the "Britain First." the aeroplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to the specifications of Viscount Rothcrmere and presented by him <o Hie Royal Air Force in 1035 on behalf of the "Daily Mail," after it had proved itself almost the fastest in the world. The machine became known to airmen as the Rothcrmere Bomber. Although it was designed six vcars ajro. it remains the basic design for one of the most advanced aircraft in its rla^s—the high-speed, two-motor medium bomber which can manoeuvre like a fighter. "The latest version of the Blenheim now in service, the Mark IV.. or ionnose.' fitted with two !>2O h.p. Bristol Mercury engines, has a top speed of about 300 m.p.h. and a rause approaching 2000 miles," said an Air Ministrv official! '•Blenheim aircraft have already distinguished themselves ltoth as homl>ers and fighters in a number of air actions against the enemy. a« well as in con-l tuitions reconnaissance ami patrol work over Western Ccrniuin and enemv bases. "Still newer versi<.ns. incorporating features suggested b* war time experfencc. will ensure that the name Blenheim remains a souri-e of anxietv to the enemy and a eredit io Rriti-h aircraft. designers and the Royal Air Force."